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Biting your Nails - Addiction
imaginativeMelon7014 May 21st, 2016
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It may seem pretty naive to some but biting your nails is an addiction too!

Wikipedia says:

Nail biting, also known as onychophagy or onychophagia, is an oral compulsive habit. It is sometimes described as a parafunctional activity, the common use of the mouth for an activity other than speaking, eating, or drinking.

Nail biting is considered an impulse control disorder in the DSM-IV-R, and is classified under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in the DSM-5. The ICD-10 classifies it as "other specified behavioral and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence." Nevertheless, the frontier pathological nail biting is not clear.

Related disorders:
Other body-focused repetitive behaviors include excoriation disorder (skin picking), dermatophagia (skin biting), and trichotillomania (the urge to pull out hair), and all of them tend to coexist with nail biting. As an oral parafunctional activity, it is also associated with bruxism (tooth clenching and grinding), and other habits such as pen chewing and cheek biting.

My personal story started a long time ago, while I was around 10 years I think or even earlier. I don't remember having long nails ever. I tried grewing them twice, both times after turning 20 years old. However, at the first sign of intense stress I turned back to my addiction.

Now I'm trying to grew them up again and I think I'm really serious this time, as I haven't been on any of my previous attempts. I've started watching youtube videos on how to take better care of them, I began buying all sorts of products to help them grow faster and stronger and I think they are looking a bit better already. I'm 10 days free of biting my nails but I'm already seeing signs of strugge. I asked my mom earlier to file them for me as I have no idea how to do that.

My point is: are there any other nail biters on 7 Cups? What are your methods to cope with it? Let's share our story and resources in here.

7
piecesofmybrokenheart July 9th, 2016
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@imaginativeMelon7014i bite my nails I still do n can't find ways to stop my fingers are too ugly for a gal😥😦

purpleWest8143 November 12th, 2017
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@imaginativeMelon7014 so I bit my nails incessantly until I was about 21 years old. I then had gel nails put on a couple times - they were expensive and took a long time to have done properly. I could pick at them sort of but didnt bite at them or significantly pick because they were tidy. As long as I stayed on top of the upkeep I was good and it got me out of the habit of biting. I dont recall how long I kept having the gel nails and fills being done but once I had them removed I would meticulously take care of my nails - filing, caring for my cuticles and doing polish every other day. If my nails cracked or broke, I would pick or bite them again so it was imperative to take good care of them. Every once in a while my nails will break and Ill pick at them or bite one down from it breaking or splitting but Ill catch myself and give myself a good manicure and then Im all good. Its been almost 20 years and people would think I was lying if I said I used to be a nail biter as I get compliments on my nails all the time now. Its possible to stop!!! 😉

MindyLove February 7th, 2018
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@imaginativeMelon7014

i bite my nails and I am constantly reminded that its gross and I need to stop but Ive been biting my ails for as long as I can remember. I also bite my cheek and I used to pull my hair out but not anymore although I still feel these urges like I just need to pull my hair out: Ive tried everything to stop biting my nails but I cant and my nails look so gross because I cant stop.

AruOkami May 21st, 2016
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I don't bite my nails seeing it as unhygienic but I do pick my nails nearly every day. It only seems to die down when I'm out of school and when I had a friend to talk to. Now it happens all year round. Sometimes it gets so bad that the lunula is gone.

imaginativeMelon7014 OP May 22nd, 2016
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@AruOkami

Sounds painful for sure. How do you manage?

rainbowturtle August 22nd, 2016
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I tried painting them with nail polish so that I won't try to bite them in fear of poisoning myself. Sometimes I just keep my hands busy or clench my fists (open close?) or I pull my hair (only when I'm extremely stressed).

justbb03 May 15th, 2017
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I bite my nails so much, I don't really have a technique to stop. Usually I just get my hands busy with something else (drawing, painting, playing an instrument) and it usually helps, but sometimes I still have the urge to bite them.

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